Aldetrudis, daughter of Saints Vincent and Waldetrudis, was raised in faith and entered the abbey of Maubeuge, founded by her aunt St. Aldegund, whom she succeeded as abbess.
Read the essentials →Aldetrudis, daughter of Saints Vincent and Waldetrudis, was raised in faith and entered the abbey of Maubeuge, founded by her aunt St. Aldegund, whom she succeeded as abbess.
February 25
February 25
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Abbess
Aldetrudis, daughter of Saints Vincent and Waldetrudis, was raised in faith and entered the abbey of Maubeuge, founded by her aunt St. Aldegund, whom she succeeded as abbess.
A legend says that when a pot of melted candle-ends caught fire, she lifted it off with her bare hands, unburnt; she had been melting the ends so as not to waste any of the precious wax. Another tells that, frightened by a thunderstorm, she prayed and Christ appeared, saying, "Be not afraid, I am with thee."
Aldetrudis was brought up by her saintly parents to tread the path of light and life from her earliest infancy.
Build up the community you belong to. This life was lived with and for a community.
Keep their day. Remember them on February 25 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.
The Abbey of Maubeuge, in France, on the Sambre, near the confines of Belgium, was founded by S. Aldegund (Jan. 30th), sister of S. Waldetrudis (April 9th), wife of S. Vincent, a count, (July 14th), and aunt of the two holy daughters of this pious couple, S. Aldetrudis and S. Madelbertha (Sept. 7th), who succeeded Aldegund as abbesses of Maubeuge. Aldetrudis was brought up by her saintly parents to tread the path of light and life from her earliest infancy. She chose the religious life, and entered the house founded and governed by her aunt, whom she succeeded. One little incident of her life has retained its hold on the popular memory, and is sometimes represented in art. Determined not to waste the precious wax from the altar and other candles, Aldetrudis melted up all the scrapings, drippings, and ends of the tapers in a large pot on the fire, but, when it was melted, the wax caught fire. Aldetrudis, thinking there was danger from the blaze, and not wishing to lose the wax, boldly caught the pot from the fire with both her hands, and placed it on the stone floor. The legend adds that though some of the melted wax ran over her hands she was not burnt.
Another story is to this effect. One evening she stood at the convent gate, looking out at an advancing thunderstorm. Presently there came a flash and a roar, which so frightened her that she cried out, "Lord Jesus, into Thy hands I commend my spirit!" Then there passed her the Lord Himself, shining out of the darkness, fairer than the sons of men, and comforted her with the words, "Be not afraid, I am with thee."
Feast: February 25
One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Aldetrudis's story, and a nudge to keep going.
Image: Waltraud Waudru.jpg · NN · CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
Image: NN, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.
